Chapter 12

Jesse finished eating his meal and patiently waited for Ulric to finish his. "Does this place have a library?" Jesse asked.

"Yes, it's in the next building over," Ulric said. "But, with it getting late, let's go tomorrow," he said.

"Okay," Jesse said, smiling and nodding his head.

"By the way, when is your birthday?" Ulric said.

"November twenty first," Jesse said.

"Cool, mine is June twenty-fifth," Ulric said.

"You're lucky," Jesse said. "Your birthday is in a warm month," he said.

"Well, yours are two days before Thanksgiving," Ulric said. "Celebrating a major holiday and a birthday in the same month sounds so cool," he said.

Jesse just realized something. "I'll be having my birthday in a new world," he said.

"A perfect chance to celebrate the new you," Ulric said. "I like the name Evan, but Jesse suits you more," he said.

"I'm going to craft my other three healing potions when we get back to our room," Jesse said as they rose from the table and headed out the door.

"Remember what the teacher said," Ulric said. "Meditate for an hour between potions," he said.

"Okay, I'll do one potion, then see what time it is," Jesse said.

"Good, because I don't want to see you exhausting yourself," Ulric said.

Back in their dorm room, Jesse sat on the floor cross-legged. Everything he needed to craft a potion sat in front of him. Ulric sat on his bed and watched. Remembering the instructions, Jesse went through the steps and created his second low-grade healing potion. When he heard the familiar chime, Jesse pulled up the message.

[Congratulations, you have crafted a healing low grade potion, you have received 10 exp points + 1 soul force point.]

[STATS]

1/19/2500

Name: Jesse #54591

Race: Human

Level 3

Exp: 0/120

Coins: 1116

Strength: 15

Agility: 15

Stamina: 15

Soul Force: 507

Perception: 25

[CRAFTING POTIONS]

Potion Low Grade Level 1: 10/50

Potion Medium Grade is required; potion Low Grade level 3 and 1500 soul force points.

Potion High Grade: required; potion Medium Grade, level 5; and 3000 soul force points.

Jesse closed his screen, got comfortable in his bed, and meditated for an hour. Ulric was tired, but he decided to stay awake to make sure that Jesse was okay. Jesse heard the familiar chime when the hour was up.

"I'll check my stats tomorrow," he said. "I'm tired," Jesse said, lying down and pulling the covers up.

"I'll see you in the morning," Ulric said, turning over and closing his eyes. At 5 a.m., Jesse woke up and checked his stats.

[STATS]

1/20/2500

Name: Jesse #54591

Race: Human

Level 3

Exp: 0/120

Coins: 1116

Strength: 15

Agility: 15

Stamina: 15

Soul Force: 658

Perception: 25

[CRAFTING POTIONS]

Potion Low Grade Level 1: 10/50

Potion Medium Grade is required; potion Low Grade level 3 and 1500 soul force points.

Potion High Grade: required; potion Medium Grade, level 5; and 3000 soul force points.

Jesse had just started his stretches when Ulric woke up. "Morning," he said, smiling at him.

"Good morning," Ulric said. "Have you been up long?" he asked.

"About five minutes," Jesse said. "I just started my stretching," he said.

"I'll take a shower now," Ulric said, getting out of bed.

"That's fine," Jesse said. "I'll take mine once my workout is done," he said. Jesse was in the middle of stretching when Ulric came into the bedroom. All he wore was a towel around his waist.

***cough cough***

"I almost lost my concentration," Jesse said, facing away from him. "Hurry and get dressed," he said.

"Being shy?" Ulric said, chuckling.

"No, but I'd like to focus on my training," Jesse said. Looking at Ulric's sculpted abs and pecs was tempting, but Jesse knew that he needed to focus on training.

"I'm dressed," Ulric said. "You can turn around now," he said.

Jesse turned around when he finished stretching. "What are your plans for today?" Jesse asked.

"We are going to the library, remember?" Ulric said.

"Oh, yeah," Jesse said. "Brain lapse," he said, smiling awkwardly and rubbing the back of his head. "Let me do my pushups and shower first," he said.

"I'll get us some breakfast," Ulric said.

"I'll be waiting," Jesse said. He did his one-hour workout while Ulric headed to the cafe.

Jesse was about to head into the bathroom when he heard the door knob jiggle. "Ulric, did you forget something?" he asked, stepping up to the door. Thinking it was his roommate, Jesse reached out his hand and turned the knob. Jesse gulped when a familiar brunette stood in front of him with a very angry expression.

"What are you doing here?" Jesse asked.

"I'm looking for my boyfriend," Chad said.

"If you're talking about Ulric, he's not interested in you," Jesse said.

"Who told you that?" Chad asked.

"As a matter of fact, he did," Jesse said.

The brunette pushed his way into the room and stepped closer. "You were told to keep your paws off of him," he snarled. "And you didn't listen," he said, forcefully pushing Jesse, making him stumble backwards. Jesse felt the edge of his bed behind him. He glanced around, looking for a way to escape, but Chad had him cornered.

"If Ulric finds you here, he'll kick your ass," Jesse said.

"What are you?" "His boyfriend now?" Chad asked, pushing him onto the bed.

"Leave me alone!" Jesse demanded.

"Why should I?" Chad asked, pinning him down. Jesse screamed in agony as a fist connected with his cheek. Blows to his stomach followed.

Jesse felt his strength diminish with every assault he received. His cries went unheard.

"Take this as your last warning," Chad said, standing up. "Next time, you're dead meat," he said. Jesse rolled over onto his side and whimpered in pain. He heard footsteps retreating and then the door closing. He covered himself up and lay motionless when the door opened. He was too scared and sore to see who it was. His head hurt too much to use his perception skills.

Ulric came to a halt in the middle of his stride when he noticed the room was in shambles. The smell of fresh blood filled his nose. The bag containing their breakfast crashed to the floor. He stepped closer and noticed where the scent was coming from.

"Jesse," Ulric said, reaching for the blanket.

"Go away," Jesse said, making himself smaller under the covers.

"I smell blood," Ulric said. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

"Go away," Jesse said, his eyes welling up. Ulric ripped the covers off of Jesse and stood there in shock at what he found. Multiple bruises and cuts littered his body.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, trying to examine the damage.

"You know who," Jesse said, pulling the cover back up. Ulric clenched his fists in anger.

"I'm going to kill that bastard," he thought to himself as he stormed out of the room.

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